My New Toy

After Christmas, I used all my gift cards and purchased a nook or an electronic reader. I had my reservations. I mean, I do love actual paper books, and I will still buy them. However, I liked the idea of saving space with the eReader. My poor overstuffed bookshelves like to share the load, too. I know a lot of people have the Kindle and are very happy with it, but I've always loved Barnes & Noble and shop there more often than Amazon.

So, after a week with the product, I will say I'm happy with it. I did a lot of research before purchasing so I know it is not a perfect product. I also did have some glitches in the beginning - one resulting in calling customer service. Everything was quickly resolved, and the operators on the phone were very friendly and patient. Since then, there has been an update to the software, and I have had no issues at all.

It is very easy to purchase eBooks, perhaps too easy. You can do this online or through the device itself, and the book(s) show up instantly. I've found the prices very competitive. There is a slight discount when compared to the paperback prices, but the real savings is in hardcovers and bestsellers. Plus, a lot of the Barnes & Noble classics are only 99 cents. So, this may result in more high-brow reading for me.

On a superficial note, I do like that I can upload pictures as my wallpaper and screensaver. I can't get enough photos of Little Miss! It took me a little bit to get used to the touch screen, but it's easy to manuever. The other criticism is the delay in turning pages, but I found that when I get to the last line, I turn the page. By the time I finish the line, the new pages appears. I will agree with the criticism that the battery is not as long-lasting as it could be, but I believe it does last longer if you don't continuously buy books and/or use the network. Also, it doesn't take long to charge at all. So, overall, I'd say it's a decent first generation, and I'm happy with my purchase even though it took me a little time to adjust to not holding an actual book. I do like that it only takes one hand to read so I can read while waiting for a pot to boil or standing in line at the grocery store while the mad hordes prepare for a winter storm or waiting for the car to be inspected. I'm actually finding, because it's so easy to read everywhere, that I'm reading quicker, too, and I expect to be able to read more books than I have been which is nice because I have not been pleased with my numbers of late.